The light at the end of the tunnel

Two. Two winning seasons since the Browns returned to Cleveland as an NFL franchise in 1999. Those two years combined for one playoff loss.

The patience and love most Cleveland fans have for their franchise cannot be understated. However there comes a time when all streaks come to an end. After all, the Steel Curtain aged, Joe Montana was traded, Cal Ripken and Brett Favre missed a game, the UConn Women’s basketball team finally lost, and the Cavaliers finally brought a championship to The Land. Hell, even the Bill’s made the playoffs in 2017.

The point remains that the football rain-cloud that shrouds the city of Cleveland has been long overdue to dissipate.

The problem? Years of mismanagement and a lack of trust throughout the organization.

The only consistency the Browns have had in the last two decades has been the lack of such, and of course, Joe Thomas.

 

The thing is, this year feels different. From an unbiased perspective into their franchise, there is hope to hold onto.

First year General Manager John Dorsey has wasted little time attempting to rejuvenate the franchise. Here are the changes from this week alone:

1. Traded for wide receiver Jarvis Landry for a 2018 fourth-round (pick 123) and 2019 seventh-round pick.
2. Traded for quarterback Tyrod Taylor for a third-round (pick 65).
3. Traded quarterback DeShone Kizer to the Packers for cornerback Damarious Randall. The teams also swapped fourth and fifth-round picks.
4. Traded defensive tackle Danny Shelton and a 2018 fifth-round pick to the Patriots for their 2019 third-round pick.

This is not bad for a team coming off of a win-less 2017 season. Most of these trades were solid for a team like the Browns. Dorsey bolstered the receiving game by adding Landry, and helped the defense through adding Randall, who, when healthy is a solid player and is expected to move to free safety. He then shipped off a quarterback with no future in Cleveland and a nose tackle that didn’t fit coordinator Gregg Williams’ defensive scheme.

The only head-scratcher? Tyrod Taylor. Taylor has one year left on his contract, so all signs point to this being a “bridge” signing. What makes things more confusing are the ties that AJ McCarron had with head coach Hue Jackson and the Browns. Hue wanted his old quarterback from his Bengals stint, Dorsey handed him Taylor.

Taylor is probably the best quarterback the Browns have had since Derek Anderson, but he isn’t the guy fans will accept. Tyrod will woo fans with his athletic ability, but drive them insane with his inability to find open receivers. Half of Cleveland will love him and the other half will want to ship him out, as the box scores will show that he managed a game and did not turn the ball over, but will also show a mere 15 pass attempts. At this point in his career, what you see is what you get: a 22-20 record, with just 1236 pass attempts over three seasons as a starter. For reference, DeShone Kizer threw for more attempts in his rookie season alone than Taylor has in any of his three seasons as a starting quarterback. It will be interesting to see what Taylor does with increased responsibility, if given the opportunity.

If they could have managed to trade a fourth or fifth-round pick for Taylor, instead of a third, this deal would make a lot more sense for one year of his services.

Speaking of draft picks, I see a lot of praise and appreciation towards ex-Browns’ general manager Sashi Brown, stating that if it weren’t for him the abundance of draft picks and salary cap space would not exist.

Well, a team that goes 1-31 in two seasons is bound to have the first overall pick in back-to-back years, and I am positive my substitution into that equation could lend the same results, so we can discount that.

Next, the abundance of cap space results from a few different reasons. One of them being the lack of a franchise quarterback. Any time a team does not have to dish out $25+ million per year to a quarterback will have cap space each year. A team as young as the Browns are can rely on the low cap hits of rookie contracts and bridge veterans.

In fact, two of their most recent additions, Tyrod Taylor and Jarvis Landry, immediately top the Browns payroll at roughly $16 million a piece.

Even the Browns’ punter Britton Colquitt ($2.5 million) is a top 15 paid player on the team in terms of the salary cap.

What I’m trying to get at is that the subtraction of Sashi Brown and the addition of John Dorsey should be seen as nothing but positive. If nothing else, Sashi Brown ultimately paid the Houston Texans $16 million dollars for a second round pick. Hey, he did something well, right?

 

Now to move towards the draft.

The Browns currently posses the first and fourth overall picks in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft. This is a great opportunity to further the progress made in free agency thus far, but how will they attack the draft?

Josh Rosen No Matter What

Maybe it’s the fact that many scouts are labeling Rosen as the most polished NFL quarterback prospect since Andrew Luck. Or maybe its the fact that the Browns haven’t taken a quarterback higher than pick 22 (Quinn, Weeden, Manziel) in the last 20 years.

In fact, it’s not even “Rosen No Matter What”, it’s “Take YOUR QB No Matter What“.

Whether that happens to be Rosen, Mayfield, Darnold, or “shutters” Josh Allen, the Browns need to finally let Dorsey take control of the quarterback this franchise desperately needs.

Right about now virtually every single one of you are asking the same question: “What about Saquon?”

Barkley is that shiny new toy that is hard to forget about. His combine performance was historical, his college tape is polished, he is a great addition to any locker room with his character and personality. He will be a 1,000 yard rusher next season that will catch 50+ balls and will approach ten touchdowns.

Don’t get me wrong. I like Saquon, maybe even love him as a prospect. I think he and Quentin Nelson are the surest things in this draft. But if I am John Dorsey and the Cleveland Browns, I don’t want five wins next year. I want seven next year, then a winning season, then playoffs, then a Super Bowl. Running backs just don’t give you those kind of things in this day and age. Quarterbacks do.

Ronnie Hillman, LeGarrette Blount, Jay Ajayi, James White, Ahmad Bradshaw, Brandon Jackson, Pierre Thomas, Joseph Addai, Willie Parker – all names of running backs with Super Bowl rings over the past decade. Even Marshawn Lynch and Ray Rice made minimal difference in recent Super Bowl wins.

Now the quarterbacks on those teams: Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, Russell Wilson, Drew Brees.

(Yes, Joe Flacco and Nick Foles won Super Bowls. No, the Browns do not have a quarterback on their roster of that talent. Mute point.)

This isn’t to say that Rosen or Mayfield are destined to be in this company, but who can definitively say they aren’t? We already know what Tyrod Taylor and AJ McCarron are, and are not, in the NFL. The Browns found this out quickly with Kizer as well.

The Browns are in a rare spot to control their destiny with a quarterback in an above average class. No trades needed, no sitting around waiting for teams in front of them to sort out quarterbacks; leaving them with the leftovers. This is the draft to do it.

Trust John Dorsey to work his magic in this draft. With a quarterback at 1, it now sets up the opportunity to take the best player on the board at 4. Whether they decide on EDGE Bradley Chubb, guard Quenton Nelson, or they even decide to trade back for more picks, QB at 1 sets the franchise up for the future. And you never know, with quarterback needy teams, the Colts and/or Giants may trade back in the draft, leaving Barkley sitting there at 4 after all.

Besides, Dorsey found a running back like Kareem Hunt in the third-round last year for Kansas City. 2017 Offensive Rookie of the Year Alvin Kamara was also taken in the third-round. With an abundance of second-round picks this year, guys like Derrius Guice or Sony Michel would make a very talented backfield when paired with the Swiss Army Knife Duke Johnson.

This team is heading in the right direction, so I will leave the “Fire Hue” chants alone for one more year.

Trust the process, get your franchise quarterback, and load up on talent.

There is finally light at the end of the tunnel.

 

 

Note: As free agency begins Wednesday, the Browns have more opportunities to fill the roster with talent. Cornerbacks Trumaine Johnson and Brashad Breeland, tackle Nate Solder, and a reunion with wide receiver Terrelle Pryor have been rumors linked to the Browns on Monday. All would be immediate upgrades at their respective positions, and signing Pryor might mean Corey Coleman is on his way out of Cleveland.